Some Tips to Get a Picky Dog to Eat a Raw Diet

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Some Tips to Get a Picky Dog to Eat a Raw Diet

Friends of the Dog

You would think that as dogs are historically omnivores, that each and every dog would dive into a bowl of raw food - not always the case!

A lot of this has to do with how they taste!

processed food has been prepared to be as tasty as possible, while raw is just raw - unchanged.
Some of the raw food suppliers add in various herbal supplements, which some dogs just do not like. A good example that Scotty cites is that she had her Brady on raw and he absolutely loved it. Suddenly, and out of the blue, he refused to eat it at all. As a behaviourist Scotty knows that things do not happen 'out of the blue', there is always a reason, so her thinking was that something had changed with the raw food recipe. On investigation, she discovered that the herb Rosemary had been recently added to the food !
Other raw diets often contain fruits and vegetables, and again, some dog simply hate veggies, especially anything green, and this can influence the palate.

Tips to get fussy eaters to eat raw.

As believers and users of raw food for our own dogs, we do tend to say to owners that are battling, that don't give up until you have tried various things. Below is what we normally suggest:-

Avoid giving any treats for a few days before starting the change, which will ensure that your dog is just that little bit hungrier than usual.
When we change a dog onto a different food, we should always do it gradually, and raw food is no different. Unfortunately some owners will just put down a full bowl of raw believing that dogs will absolutely love it - not all do.
Rather, as with dry food, add in about 1T raw for medium sized dogs, and 1t for smaller breeds, at the same time taking out the same amount from the previous food.
If the dog does well with above, then gradually add in another 1T or 1t a day until you have changed over completely.
If your dog is battling with the new food, it could well be that you are offering it too cold. Try firstly allowing the food to reach room temperature before offering.
If above does not work, then put in a little bit of olive oil in a non stick pan and fry quickly. Allow to cool for a few minutes then offer. Things works incredibly well with the majority of dogs and you can continue increasing food as per above. Once the dog is eating all the food, then gradually fast fry less and less, until you are just offering room temp food.
Olive Oil, as you will be aware, has multiple benefits for dogs, and an added bonus is that the majority of dogs love the taste. Be careful you don't give too much - an absolute maximum would be 1teaspoon per 9kg.
Another additive you can try if your dog loves eggs, is to beat up a raw egg and add a bit to the food, keeping the rest for the next meal.
There are very few dogs that do not love liver, and the majority of raw diets have a certain amount of liver in them. You can add in a little bit of finely chopped liver, and see if this helps. Do be careful how much liver you add, as too much liver is not good for dogs. As your dog gets used to it, gradually reduce the amount of liver you are adding, and eventually not adding at all.
It could well be that the dog does not like the consistency, or the texture of the food - they are used to kibble which is totally different. Try rolling a bit of the raw into little balls, mimicking kibble and experiment with that.

The majority of raw suppliers have 100g or 200g packets that you can try to see if your dog likes the food before you order a large amount, and well worth experimenting.